Refreshing insight by Mr. Weston. As for my take? the film has it’s moments but some of the sweeping generalities and “ one size fits all “ for absolutely everyone who partakes in anything deemed drugs ( again… prescribed pharmaceuticals? alcohol, nicotine never an issue ) shows it’s dated myopic agenda typical of the period.

As an addict for the last 25 years, I can vouch for everything in this film being true. It isn't campy. It's the plain truth about a dynamic complicated subject.

In the 1980s-1990s, all we got was "say no to drugs" and "DARE to keep kids off drugs". These campaigns lacked any information. At first I was ok. I rejected drugs continuously until I was about 17 years old. But one weekend vacation with my best friends, they brought reefer and used it and told me they had been using it for 2 years without telling me. (they kept it secret because they had been good friends and didn't want me getting started or they were afraid I would abandon them if they told me I don't know which). We were a bunch of golden boys, kids of millionaires in private school, with nothing to do but spend lots of money. Anyhow that weekend I tried the reefer and never stopped reefer after that, until it became a drain on my heroin funds. Yes the reefer lead to heroin within 1 year via a different group of wealthy reefer users in my private school (the drug clique of said school, from whom I had begun getting said reefer. In the 1990s they all had very baggy jeans that touched the floor and got ragged at the bottom, disgusting). But these guys also used coke, speed, acid, ecstacy, and the holy of holy's, God's greatest gift to man, H. To these kids, getting and using H was the highest goal. They (and later we) worshipped this drug. In the beginning we could only get it once in a great while, so we were ok. But eventually I found a fantastic hookup with a guy who brought it in from offshore! I had to drive 2 hours each way to meet this guy but did so once a week and got $750 of pretty high grade stuff which I would make last that week. Still in college and still running a shopping center I had bought in my college town. But within 4 years after that, there began to be problems in my supply chain, causing horrible sickness and failure of school and business performance. At one point the stuff was so weak I had to spend $12,000 in one week on dope. I had to sell my good car and buy a cheap one, to fund that one week. After finding myself in a county jail cell in withdrawal for the second time, it dawned upon me that perhaps this path in life was not going to work out as hoped. I told my father I was a junky. (This part is key. I had kept this a secret from him only because he said he wouldn't support any kid on drugs. Don't ever say that to your kids! Tell they you will support them through any problem that arises!!). If I had told him in the beginning, before I got hooked, I'd have been ok. He was a wonderful guy and I never lied to him about anything except this. With his help, I left the scene, moved 1000 miles away, and went onto methadone and still take that to this day, mainly because I have other diseases which predate the drug use, which cause great pain. Methadone attenuates that pain to make life bearable.

In my youth we had no drug education. Just a couple dumb slogans which only work for a while, until inevitably you do what your friends are doing.

I used medical books for my drug education. Prior to doing heroin I read about 6 medical books. Every one of them said that withdrawal from heroin was 3-5 days of mild discomfort, similar to the flu. Well I had the flu and got through that easily, so I felt it was well worth it to achieve the highest goal, the greatest physical feeling ever possible, better than sex, etc. of Heroin. So these medical books failed me too. It isn't 3-5 days of mild discomfort. I tried to kick on many occasions. The worst of them was on the floor in the bathroom for 2 weeks, only to be revived by more heroin.

Another truth in the film... the only way to come off heroin is in a hospital!! I did that 3 times and it was actually an enjoyable time every time. No pain. Came out in great shape. Unfortunately, I never stayed in hospital long enough to pass the withdrawal window, so I came out of hospital and after about two days withdrawal started in again and more drugs to stop the withdrawal. But that's the case with any hospital stay in America today. They always discharge you prior to your recovery. They want that bed for more valuable patients. There is no money in recovery. Just surgery and initial treatment.

Cheers. all if you read this far.

Feel free to check it out if you're curious to see how others are using footage from the Prelinger Archive:

The Aquaerials - "Turn the Devil Down"
https://youtu.be/lLsARVvTb9Y

Wow! A year on the county farm with no priors. Well, remember this boys and girls, "only dopes use dope".

3 jays for a buck. What a deal. Wish it was 1950 again.

Actually like 2 of those boys, pot makes me puke. Even the smell of it. The stuff going around today is particularly skunky.


Except for the limbo stick, it's the sole contribution to American society made by Caribbean blacks.

Well done film, actually.

I have about 10 tb of material, but I am trying hard not to repeat the same material if it had been uploaded by someone else. Whoever uploaded this one good job.

Hi kfinn,
If you look at the main page from where you select your Prelinger Archive title, scroll down and on the left you will see a box titled "Rights". There you will see that these are completely free to use in whatever way you wish. Hope this helps.

oblongdot

Greetings, I'm trying to find out if this video is in the public domain or if it needs to be licensed. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. If you'd care to discuss feel free to contact me on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Kev­inMartinFinnJr

Kevin

I was subjected to this film in 1968-it's kept me off of drugs since (joke)- I love it for its campy values and the neat graphics!

McFly!

Typical of most anti drug messages past and present. As one who has been there/done that I say some of the assertions are true, but most are either myths or fall short of true reality. One myth perpetrated throughout this film is the "gateway theory", i.e. marijuana leads to heroin. In real life I have met many heroin users who never once touched marijuana but virtually all consumed alcohol. Is the true "gateway theory" then that alcohol leads to heroin ?
I might also add that,like most anti drug messages past and present, the film leaves out two of the most commonly used and potentially dangerous drugs, namely alcohol and tobacco. Also, worthy of mention , note the solutions to the drug problem proposed in the film, namely reporting addicts to the police, tougher drug prohibition laws, tougher enforcement, etc. have all been tried over the 50 years passed since the film has been made and have not put a dent in the drug trade or drug useage.

Otherwise, the film is a really tacky, campy, bizzare and so retro which makes it interesting. If it were a full length movie it would be on a par with "Reefer Madness" and/or "Marijuana-The Devils Weed". It's a great film if you enjoy tacky retro drug films.

This 50s Encyclopedia Britannica anti-drug film is about as campy as IÂve ever seen EB get. It tells the story of Marty, a nice, clean-cut 50s teen who succumbs to peer pressure and tries reefers. Before you know it, heÂs a junkie mainlining heroin, and then experiences the inevitable downward spiral of losing his part-time job at the grocery store, worrying his parents, getting snubbed by all the other clean-cut teens, turning to shoplifting and thievery to support his habit, and finally becoming a drug pusher. Eventually he gets arrested for all of this and, after his mother tearfully tells the judge that heÂs a Âgood boy, gets court-ordered into substance abuse treatment. But after he gets out of rehab, all the nice teens still shun him and he has to contend with pressure from his old junkie pals to start using again. This well-worn story is told in an incredibly dorky and hyperbolic fashionÂÂhighlights include MartyÂs friends getting sick when they first smoke marijuana (Marty also feels sick but hides itÂÂthe sign of a true addict-in-the-making), Marty and his friends drinking Pepsi from broken bottles while in a hopped-up state, MartyÂs mother trying to talk to her surly son about her worries about him, and the post-rehab Marty trying to resist the pressure of his old junkie pal, Duke, to start using again. For those who like to laugh at anti-drug films, this one is a classic.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.

I thought it was a well done film. Although it no different than the anti-drug ads today, it was a little informative. I have half the mind to show this to my friends and co-workers who are into weed (I'm not I'm happy to say) I can it see it be a bit laughable. By the way, did anyone noticed that the judge in the film is the same actor who defended the "Master Plan" on television in the film "How to Lose What We Have"?

This film is a gem. If you think about it, we really haven't evolved from this. We still use the same scare tacticts and pseudo-science (see current "harmless?" ads). This has great camp value! Eating glass? Where did they come up with that one?

Any ways, if any one knows where I can acquire similar films or any similar sites like the prelinger archives, please write me at
schuthj@yahoo.com !
I would greatly appreciate it. These films have a wonderful mixture of perversion and wholesomeness that is just marvelous.`

The argument is flawed, the images are funny, but the message is good one. I say this as both a teacher and as a parent.

When talking about slippery slope arguments in my classes, I use the drug films of this era as an example. My teachers in the 1960s showed similar films in PE class. Smoke one joint and WHAM! you are addicted to heroin.

I'll admit that I laughed at the images. The drug pushers who stand in doorways wearing trenchcoats and dark glasses. The drug kingpin who keeps his stash inside a lamp on his desk (The cops will never find it in there!). And the scene with boys hopped up on drugs stealing a case of Pepsi, smashing the bottles against a wall, and then laughing as they cut their mouths on broken glass was just too bizzare.

With all of its flaws, though, the story contained a kernel of truth. When my son was 16, his mother and I placed him in a drug rehab center. His drugs of choice were marijuana and alcohol. He exhibited the same behaviors we see in Marty: the moodiness, the evasiveness, the slackers and losers for friends, the petty theft, the poor grades. We took action before there were any brushes with law enforcement.

In the film, the judge sends poor Marty off to a state-supported drug rehab program. How many of those exist today? I'll bet not many. And the state rehab facilities that do exist are vastly underfunded. My wife and I were fortunate that our health insurance covered the cost of our son's treatment in a private facility.

The film is heavy-handed in its delivery. It contains fallacious arguments: the slippery slope and the appeal to fear. My students know that not everyone who smokes marijuana will become instantly addicted to heroin. But most of them have stories about a friend who is addicted to hard drugs, someone who started out by smoking a just a little weed.

Love to all,
Sarcasticus

After watching Drug Addiction, the chemical tomb and finding out the fifties were all about malt shops and bobbi-sox, it's a pleasure to find this engrossing (and more interesting) film made in 1951 about basically the same thing. After a interesting animated show of what drugs are, and what they do to you, we turn to Marty (featuring the great actor from 'Are You Ready For Marriage'.. obviously not!) as he gets busted for stealing, as he is sentenced to court, we find out the whole sordid details about how he got there. A GREAT story is told, highly entertaining, filled with sleazy underworld types, gloomy friends, and overprotective mothers. Soon Marty is hooked (and eating pop bottles! (eewwww! HAHAHAHA!) he then goes into petty theft to support his habit, and we come full circle returning to the court to hear his momma say 'He's a good boy!" in his defense..

I've seen this film before on the big screen, and it's GREAT to see it again, A MUST SEE on this site!